Former federal economist joins ASU to advance real estate research

After nearly a decade in government, Robert Martin joins the W. P. Carey Center for Real Estate and Finance to study industry trends in Arizona.

Robert Martin's interest in economic measurements — metrics like gross domestic product, inflation, and unemployment that track a country's economic health — led him to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, where he began working as a research economist in 2017.

"The bureau was one of the top places — particularly in government — to work with the statistics and measures economists use every day," says Martin, who spent nearly a decade in the Division of Price and Index Number Research. "We served as an in-house research office and consultancy for the program offices when they had questions or were dealing with complex problems."

In 2025, Martin left the Bureau to join W. P. Carey's Center for Real Estate and Finance as a research economist specializing in applied econometrics, price indexes, distributional measures, and empirical microeconomics. The center — established by a $25 million gift from the W. P. Carey Foundation in 2024 — introduced a new experiential learning lab, expanded degree offerings, and leads continuing and executive education programs for real estate professionals.

Martin was eager to transition to W. P. Carey and conduct research in an academic setting. Because real estate both reflects and drives the economy, his expertise is critical to the center's understanding of the forces shaping current and future market trends.

One way Martin is already applying his expertise is through the center's partnership with the Morrison Institute for Public Policy's Arizona Research Council on Housing and Economic Solutions, where he is contributing to housing affordability research.

"It's an important issue not only in Arizona, but more broadly," says Martin. "The center has ambitious goals when it comes to contributing to academic research. For me, in this field, it's a premier opportunity to be a part of that."

Martin sat down with W. P. Carey News to discuss his transition to academia and the important role the Center for Real Estate and Finance plays in addressing Arizona's pressing housing challenges.

Question: How did your experience as an economic researcher in government shape your approach in an academic setting?

Answer: It was similar to an academic environment. There wasn't teaching, as there is at a university, but we either identified issues to study or were given questions to work on, then presented our research to stakeholders. The setting was government, rather than a university community, but the process was comparable. The transfer of skills was seamless.

Q: Does research within an academic institution require you to ask different questions than in a federal setting?

A: Somewhat. At the bureau, I was closely aligned with the agency's mission to be a gold standard for price and labor market statistics. The work was more narrowly focused on methodology. In this role, I'm looking more broadly at how those statistics connect to real-world outcomes. There is overlap, though, and I did significant work related to housing and housing measurement at the bureau, which is central to real estate.

Q: Was any of your research at the bureau directly applicable to your role at W. P. Carey?

A: Many of the topics are related to housing. I worked on how we measure the housing component of consumer inflation, including the standard methodology that, roughly speaking, treats everyone as a renter. The Consumer Price Index doesn't include the price of a home, since much of what you pay reflects investment in the asset itself.

But that's not the only way to look at it. We also track actual out-of-pocket expenses, like mortgage, insurance, maintenance, and repairs. While at the bureau, I did some work comparing alternative methods and expenditure areas to more traditional rent-based imputations — estimated rental values used in inflation calculations.

While measuring housing inflation might not be the only priority for the center, what is helpful is that I know a lot about the data sources we might use to look at consumer spending, and have a good understanding of what government data sources are available and how to apply that information to different questions. Just knowing what data is out there — and how it can be used to answer our questions — about housing and the broader economy has been a transferable experience.

Q: How does your background help you approach real estate-related challenges with a fresh perspective?

A: Something I love about the center is that we are bringing together people of different backgrounds, which is something I didn't have in my previous job. In contrast, at the center, we have access to economists, developers, brokers, and people who have worked in urban planning. I believe I complement the team by thinking about problems quantitatively and applying data to questions. That perspective is not exclusive to economics — certainly, many fields take it into account — but it's the first thing I ask: What does this mean for how much things will cost? How do people make decisions, and can we put a number on it?

Q: Are there any research initiatives within the center that you're looking forward to working on over the next few years?

A: One of the great things about this center is that there are many exciting projects in progress, and there will be opportunities I don't even know exist yet. We revamped a long-running survey of real estate brokers that the center has conducted for the past 12 years. With the center's expanded staffing, we were able to add questions that expanded the survey's presentation and output. I'm also looking forward to improving and replicating an index of broker sentiment we put together, which combines data from brokers about what they anticipate happening in the real estate market. It allows us not only to understand overall sentiment, but also to track how it's changing and zero in on why brokers feel that way.

Additionally, we're working on the challenges the Phoenix metro area will face as it continues to grow. The Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity expects the region to add over 1 million people by 2040. It might seem like there is a lot of space in the Valley, but there are also significant challenges with water, zoning, land use, availability, and more. Addressing this requires bringing together different types of data in ways that haven't been done yet. We're looking at patterns of development and whether they can accommodate the growth we expect to see in the Valley.

It's been an exciting project.

As Arizona's population grows and housing challenges evolve, Martin's quantitative expertise will help inform the center's research and insight into the region's real estate future.

Learn more about the W. P. Carey Center for Real Estate and Finance and its research initiatives.